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Manipuri man's killing reverberates in parliament

New Delhi, July 22 IANS | 7 months ago

The killing of a Manipuri man reverberated in parliament Tuesday with members in both houses expressing concern over violence against people from the northeast. The government assured that efforts were on to arrest all the accused.

Manipuri BPO employee Akha Salouni, 29, was beaten to death Monday by five youths, of whom four have been arrested. One accused is still at large.

Members in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha expressed concern over incidents of violence against people from the northeast in Delhi.

Bharatiya Janata Party member Tarun Vijay raised the issue during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha.

"This is not the first incident. What are people in Delhi doing to the people from the northeast? They are making them feel this is not their home," he said.

Several other members joined him in expressing concern over the situation.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said it was a very serious matter and the government should make a statement on it.

In the Lok Sabha, leader of the Congress in the house Mallikarjun Kharge demanded a statement from the home minister on the matter.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said: "Delhi Police have examined all the eyewitnesses as well as the CCTV footage."

"Efforts are on to arrest the remaining two assailants. A special investigation team has been constituted," he said, adding that investigations into the incident were on.

An initial autopsy report into the death said there were multiple internal injuries to the neck, abdomen and brain of the victim.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Magistrate Ashok Kumar Tuesday sent Sanjay Basoya, Shakti Basoya and Raju to police custody till July 24. The three were arrested hours after they beat Salouni to death.

The quarrel over giving way turned violent when five youths attacked Salouni and his two friends at Kotla Mubarakpur in south Delhi. Salouni and his friends were in an auto-rickshaw, while the five youths were in a car. While Salouni's friends managed to flee, the 29-year-old was beaten badly resulting in his death later at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS.

While police were able to nab three accused within hours of the attack, two were at large. One of the accused, Azad Choudhary, 24, a driver by profession, was arrested Tuesday from his hideout in Delhi. Police are now looking for the fifth assailant.

Police said all the four arrested belong to Garhi area in south Delhi.

The North East MP Forum (NEMPF) Tuesday condemned the killing and demanded that recommendations by the Bezbaruah Committee report be implemented.

M.P. Bezbaruah, chairperson of the Bezbaruah Committee formed by the government after Tania's attack to suggest remedial measures, told IANS that "only police action and reforms cannot lower crime against the people from the northeast".

He further attributed such incidents to "mindsets of the people and the ideology they adopt against a certain community".

"There is a need for the government to make policies that prevents the culprits from getting away after committing the crime, which does not happen in many of the cases.

"A wide range of policies need to be improved so that crimes against people from the northeast, and equally from against other states, should reduce," Bezbaruah told IANS.

Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) V.K. Singh said in a tweet: "Strongly condemn killing of Shaloni (sic), 29 yr old Manipuri youth in Delhi. The govt. will take measures to ensure that such incidents don't reoccur."

Shakeel Ahmad of the Congress said: "People from the northeast are surprised by the silence of PM Modi on the killing of a Manipuri youth in Delhi, unlike his outburst in Nido Tania case."